


Although It's Been Said Many Times, Many Ways

by anisstaranise



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 20:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2886020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anisstaranise/pseuds/anisstaranise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sebastian never understood the whole Christmas <i>thing</i> while Blaine loves everything to do with Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Although It's Been Said Many Times, Many Ways

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a **Bones** Christmas episode. I made _Doctor Who_ and _Community_ Christmas references, I couldn't resist.
> 
> Written for the **Seblaine Holiday Extravaganza**. Grabbag prompt: _One of them is sick of the holidays and the other reminds them why they are important._
> 
> (A special thank you to **Dee** , for everything.)

The apartment was pleasantly warm as the radiator emitted its comforting heat from the corner of the room. Sebastian sighed contently, curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and a book he had planned on reading for ages.

However, the content sigh quickly turned into a groan when Christmas music flitted loudly from the kitchen.

Sebastian didn’t get the whole Christmas _thing_. Yes, he had fond memories of Christmas when he was growing up but like everything else, he quickly grew out of it; the presents, the tree, making lists for Santa. He found that every bit of the Christmas _thing_ rather nonsensical by the age of eight.

As an adult, he didn’t understand the fuss of it all either; especially when it came to shopping for presents. He was convinced that the need to buy someone a gift for Christmas was a notion ingrained by every business establishment in the world- a marketing ploy, preying on people’s sentimental state during the holidays.

“Can you turn that off, please?” Sebastian yelled over the music, feeling rather irritated. He already had to endure all the nauseating Christmas music whenever he walked through the mall, or every time he took a cab to work or even during his coffee breaks in the office pantry. He wasn’t about to have any of it when he was at home, too.

His boyfriend sauntered into the living room with a box of what appeared to be arts and craft supplies- a bright smile was planted on his face as he plopped down on the couch next to Sebastian; the volume of the Christmas music remained a little too loud for Sebastian’s liking.

“No. I shan’t! It’s Christmas!” his boyfriend declared in a sing-song tone.

“It’s December 10th, Blaine,” Sebastian stated.

Blaine stuck out his tongue playfully and despite his irritation, Sebastian let out a little chuckle at his boyfriend’s adorableness. He peered into the box in Blaine’s hands and promptly rolled his eyes; more Christmas-y stuff.

Blaine was the opposite of Sebastian when it came to Christmas; he loved everything to do with Christmas- the tree, the ornaments, the door wreaths, the stockings hanging by the fireplace, candy canes, nightly wishes for snow- everything.

“How can you not like Christmas?” Blaine asked when he caught Sebastian’s eye roll.

“What’s not to _not_ like?” Sebastian shrugged.

“Uh, presents?” Blaine said, not really intending it to be a question but more of a matter-of-fact statement.

“You mean the ridiculous spending on others?” Sebastian challenged, raising an eyebrow as he turned to face his boyfriend.

“It’s to show that they’re appreciated,” Blaine said proudly, stating it as though it was a universal logic- a logic that Sebastian couldn’t quite grasp.

“Well, if they’re _so_ appreciated, why just show it with presents this one day of the year? Why not do it every day throughout the year?” Sebastian countered, feeling smug at pointing out the flaw in the logic.

Blaine fumbled with a comeback; half gaping, half immersed in concentration. Sebastian used Blaine’s lack of response to drive home another point he despised about Christmas-

“And don’t get me started on Santa,” Sebastian pointed out, partly teasing Blaine.

Blaine’s hazel eyes grew wide in disbelief, as if Sebastian had just uttered the most blasphemous thing anyone could ever say. “Do not go there!” he said with a warning look.

“The Santa myth is purely based on blackmail; be good or you won’t get any presents,” Sebastian pressed on, his need to win the conversation suddenly growing.

“It’s not blackmail!” Blaine half yelled as he put the box of art supplies on the coffee table and turned on the couch to face Sebastian, tucking one leg underneath him. “It’s about teaching children the wonders of delayed gratification; do something good, have patience and you’ll be rewarded.”

Blaine then went into detail about why he thought Santa was important to children and the beauty of Christmas as a whole.

“It’s what people call the Christmas spirit,” Blaine continued with his argument. “It’s the transient experience of innocence and joy.”

Sebastian always found himself enamoured by his boyfriend’s passion for anything and everything. It was astounding to find this one man- compact-built and significantly a head shorter than him, could carry so much passion and love within.

“Well, I still think Christmas is overrated,” Sebastian said dejectedly.

It wasn’t that Sebastian hated Christmas; he just didn’t share everyone’s enthusiasm for it. Every time someone wished him _Merry Christmas_ , he would shrug it off and only offer a polite smile instead. He can’t remember the last time he wished someone _Merry Christmas_ and meant it. To him, Christmas was just another day- nothing merry about it. Life went on, with or without the decorations or presents, he thought.

“You’re a Grinch, you know that?” Blaine pouted as he playfully smacked Sebastian’s forearm.

“The Grinch got it right,” Sebastian teased.

Blaine rolled his eyes; a gesture Sebastian interpreted as his boyfriend’s admission of defeat, clearly accepting the fact that he can’t alter Sebastian’s views on Christmas. He smirked at Blaine as the other man reached for his box of art supplies again.

Sebastian lounged back into the couch and attempted to read his book but he didn’t get past a sentence before Blaine let out a deliberately loud sigh. A smile crept on his lips; it was always something Blaine did to subtly claim, or in this case, reclaim Sebastian’s attention (although it clearly wasn’t very subtle).

Sebastian looked up from his book and cocked his head slightly; an invitation for Blaine to speak his mind.

“I just-,” Blaine started when he met Sebastian’s gaze; some hesitation peeked through his tone. “My family always had this tradition of making our own Christmas ornaments every year and since it’s our first Christmas as a couple, in our own place-,” he trailed off, lips pursed in deep thought. Blaine looked into the box and fiddled with a cardboard cut-out of a snowflake. He then brought his attention back to Sebastian, “-I thought we could carry on the family tradition.”

Sebastian closed his book and sat up to be closer to his boyfriend. “Are two people a family?” he asked; partly teasing and partly earnestly curious about Blaine’s view on their relationship.

Blaine shyly peered at him through those gorgeously long lashes- a look that stuttered Sebastian’s heart; stopping it then making the pace race at break-neck speed.

“Isn’t that how a family starts?” Blaine whispered- his words laced with love that was solely meant for Sebastian.

It wasn’t so much a question; rather, it was a quiet declaration of Blaine’s love and commitment to him, to their relationship.

A new kind of happiness and contentment exploded in Sebastian’s chest; something he’s never truly felt before.

Blaine was a rarity- a miracle even. Sebastian knew that adults were often imbued by the pragmatic routines of everyday life, which made it arduous to regard anything with childlike wonder. But Blaine’s passion and love drew his attention to the little happy wonders in life:

The smiley faces Blaine would draw for him on the fogged up bathroom mirror after a shower that never failed to make him giggle, the quiet kisses between his shoulder blades after he returned from a rather rough day at work- and now, Blaine was starting to give meaning to a day Sebastian regarded as meaningless for so long with something as simple as making an ornament.

Sebastian slowly reached into the box and pulled out some white koi papers. He started folding a piece this way and that, tapping into his memory of the many art classes he took as a boy. He then reached into the box and pulled out a pair of scissors, vaguely aware that Blaine’s eyes were following his every move. He snipped at the folded corners of the paper, and then continued to fold it this way and that.

After a few minutes of tucking and folding, Sebastian proudly held up the finished product to Blaine; a [five-point origami star](http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/image-files/5-pointed-origami-star-step-4c-500x375.jpg).

Blaine wordlessly took the paper star from Sebastian, smiling so brightly it rivalled the shine of any star in the galaxy. He reached into the craft-supplies box and extracted a piece of ribbon, then gracefully looped it to be taped at the back of the star.

Sebastian watched as Blaine hoisted himself up from the couch and walked to the modest Christmas tree that his boyfriend had put up the moment the clock struck midnight on December 1st. The tree was still bare since Blaine had been occupied with work for the past week; making the paper star the only ornament on the tree after Blaine gingerly placed it on one of the branches.

Blaine let out a content sigh and Sebastian could see his boyfriend’s compact form expand with happiness. Sebastian pushed off of the couch and stalked towards the tree, the Christmas music wafting from the kitchen lent a serene effect to their living room. Blaine melted into Sebastian’s chest as he enveloped his arms around the shorter man’s body from behind.

They both spent a few minutes just holding each other and staring at the origami star; their first handmade Christmas ornament together.

Sebastian was aware that it was only December 10th but a special kind of gladness that stirred within made him wonder if this was what Christmas really felt like. He couldn’t be sure; too much time has passed since he felt anything when it came to Christmas.

Sebastian pecked a kiss on Blaine’s neck as he felt that new kind of happiness and contentment course through him again. He realized that he might not get the whole Christmas _thing_ and the meaning of it all, but _this_ \- him and Blaine, their life together as a _family_ \- he understood it perfectly. _This_ was all the meaning he would ever need.

He guided Blaine’s body to turn in his arms until he was gazing into a pair of chestnut-brown eyes that he loved so dearly. Sebastian leaned down to steal a quick kiss off of his boyfriend’s lips and when he pulled away from Blaine, he said the words he hasn’t said in a really long time:

“Merry Christmas.”

And he meant it.

 

\---END

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Comments welcomed.
> 
> Sebastian's origami [star](http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/image-files/5-pointed-origami-star-step-4b-500x375.jpg)  
> [Doctor Who](https://38.media.tumblr.com/6264f7935d7ad26189047ba505af9af3/tumblr_mydge9zjxb1smcongo2_250.gif) Christmas reference  
> [Community](http://anisstaranise.tumblr.com/post/104836380505/cramp-its-december-10th) Christmas reference


End file.
